


Emerald Lightning

by magicforever39



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Naruto
Genre: Adopted Harry, Eventual Romance, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Female Harry, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Smart Uzumaki Naruto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25083541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicforever39/pseuds/magicforever39
Summary: Sumire Potter was adopted by Kakashi as a toddler and grew up as a citizen and shinobi of Konoha. She'll have to navigate being a shinobi with her schooling at Hogwarts where something always seems to be going wrong. Along the way she and her friends, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji will have to deal with love, betrayal, loss, and the unexpected.
Relationships: Kakashi Hatake & Female Harry Potter (Father/Daughter)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	1. Sometimes the Smallest Things Cause the Biggest Problems

**Author's Note:**

> “Text" - Spoken word (English in England, Japanese in Konoha)  
> " _Text_ " - Spoken word (language not usually spoken in the country)  
> 'Text' - Thoughts  
> Spells and Jutsus will be in italics as well ( _Shadow Clone Jutsu, Expelliarmus_ )

I know I have several stories still in work... Phoenix Rising especially... but when i have tried to work on them either nothing come or if I do have inspiration it's for way down in the timeline. I have three different versions of an event that takes place six/seven years later in the timeline for Phoenix Rising. I'd also hit a writing slump, probably due in part to working two jobs and the stress of working on my masters degree. But this one I've been working on off and on for a while and I've got pretty much all the way through chapter nine written out and through chapter fifteen outlined. Which makes this the most planned out story I've written.  
________________________________________ Anyway, some quick notes about the story as a whole. The events of Sumire's first year followed mostly as canon. Naruto's mission to the Land of Waves does have some changes from canon which will come up later. Naruto himself is smarter and less alone than canon and has been best friends with Sumire, Kiba, Akamaru, Shikamaru, and Chouji for years. Dumbledore has a tendency to manipulate events to fit his plans/ideas. If something else comes to mind I'll mention it in another chapter.  
________________________________________ 

Sumire leaned against the damp wall breathing heavily. She made sure her scent was masked and stretched out her sense of hearing. The whisper of scales of on wet stone was faint so she knew the basilisk wasn’t nearby. Since she had time, she opened her kunai pouch to take stock of her remaining weapons.

She put her head back and immediately regretted it. She felt the slime seep into her hair bringing with it several kinds of mold and mildew that had undoubtedly grown rampant in the damp underground cavern. It had been sealed up for the past 50 years after all. Sumire shook her head to physically dislodge the thoughts of how depressing the Chamber of Secrets had become.

She refocused on the task at hand. All her attacks, both with physical weaponry and with magic hadn’t worked. Admittedly she didn’t use many spells but that was due to her only being in second year and both of her Defense teachers had been hopeless. The Cutting Curse she taught herself a few months ago bounced off the snake’s skin. If it was because her spell wasn’t strong enough or the Basilisk was magically resistant, she didn’t know. And while the other subjects here at Hogwarts had battle applications if you were creative enough, she hadn’t learned anything that could help her in this fight. Those that could be helpful were impossible for her to get the power needed behind them because her core wasn’t developed enough.

During her independent studies she’d learned that magic was theoretically very similar to chakra. Some spells couldn’t be performed until a witch or wizard was older much like how an ordinary genin couldn’t perform the _Shadow Clone Jutsu_ , it was just too dangerous. Sumire didn’t understand why it wasn’t explained in any of her Hogwarts classes. The Ninja Academy spent weeks explaining it as well as teaching both chakra control and chakra building exercises.

Sumire recoiled as the scent of a snake that been trapped in a small underground chamber for far too long assaulted her sensitive nose. While she was lost in thought the basilisk had gotten closer to her hiding spot. It wasn’t close enough to be a problem, but Sumire cursed her lapse. As a chunin of Konoha she should know better.

She stood to draw the giant snake back to the main chamber. Her next couple attacks would be better off done in a more open space so they wouldn’t collapse a tunnel. Sumire jogged past the pool of blood from where Fawkes had pecked out the deadly eyes of the snake, which she was grateful for. While she could manage temporarily without one or more of her senses, thanks ever so much sensei, she didn’t like being at such a disadvantage.

Ignoring the teenaged Voldemort standing over Ginny Weasley, she turned to face the tunnel she could hear the basilisk in. Tom Riddle wasn’t a threat right now, not compared to the giant poisonous snake. Sumire’s hands flew through her hand signs. Once the basilisk emerged completely from the tunnel, she raised one hand to her mouth and breathed out a massive fireball engulfing the snake.

When she saw the jutsu wasn’t having an effect on the scaly skin, Sumire canceled the flow of chakra and readied her new plan B, more like plan F. She tuned out Riddle’s demands to know what kind of spell she’d used. If she thought about how she learned the _Fireball Jutsu,_ she’d get distracted which would be deadly right now.

Sumire finished wrapping a paper bomb around a kunai. She then threw several into the snake’s mouth when it reared up to bite her. She proceeded to cure fluently in Japanese. The explosions and sharp objects only managed to scratch the soft flesh, but she didn’t have enough kunai let alone paper bombs to cause any significant damage. Her katana was hidden in her dorm room because it was too conspicuous to carry around a civilian school where only one other person knew she was a shinobi. More portable storage scrolls would probably be something to investigate.

“I don’t suppose you have any advice?” Sumire asked the old hat. If Fawkes brought the Sorting Hat down here, then it must have some other uses besides sorting eleven-year olds based on personality traits. Sort of.

A silver hilt encrusted with rubies shimmered into existence inside the Hat. Sumire dove down and pulled out the sword. She smiled and said, “That’s more like it.” She saw Godric Gryffindor’s name engraved on the blade. “And ironic.”

Sumire ran up the front of the statue of Slytherin. The size of the basilisk meant she needed the height to get a better shot. She stood on top and waited for it to attack, exposing the vulnerable roof of the mouth.

The snake reared back and struck, mouth wide open. Sumire brought Gryffindor’s sword up in one smooth motion. The blade did what her previous attacks could not. It pierced through the palate and venom glands into the brain.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t an instantaneous death. The basilisk thrashed around as she started to pull out the blade. The familiar, yet uncomfortable, feeling of warm blood drenching her arm was overcome by a white hot, searing pain emanating from just below her elbow. Sumire stared at the white fang driven into her arm. She wrenched the sword free and bit back a cry of pain as the fang scraped against bone before it snapped out of the skull.

Sumire stumbled as she landed by the corpse. She yanked the fang out of her arm, though it was too late to stop the poison she could feel spreading through her body. She could even see her veins darkening as the poison passed through, at least until her vision went dull and foggy.

“You’re dead, Sumire Potter,” Riddle said. His voice came from above her so she must have fallen to her knees. “Dead. Even Dumbledore’s bird knows it. Do you see what he’s doing Potter? He’s crying.”

Sumire could see a fuzzy fiery red blob near her arm, but everything was so out of focus. Strangely she was less annoyed by Riddle asking if she could see while dying, than by how he pronounced her name. It rhymed with ray, not tire.

“I’m going to sit here and watch you die, Sumire Potter. Take your time. I’m in no hurry.”

There was something wrong with those words, but Sumire was too tired to figure out what it was. The room was spinning and forming the familiar figures of her friends and family. Well one of them she was surprised to see since his betrayal had cut deeply especially since she had seen him as an older brother.

“So ends the famous Sumire Potter,” Riddle said, still monologuing and crowing about his victory like a cliché movie villain. “Alone in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by her friends, defeated at last by the Dark Lord she so unwisely challenged. You’ll be with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Sumire… She bought you eleven years of borrowed time… but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must…”

Sumire’s mind and vision cleared to reveal Fawkes resting his head on his arm. A ring of pearly tears surrounded the red mark that was all there was left of the wound. Fawkes flew off after Riddle let off a bang from Ginny’s wand.

“Phoenix tears…” Riddle whispered, staring at Sumire’s arm. “Of course… healing powers… I forgot…”

He peered into Sumire’s face. “But it makes no difference. In fact, I prefer it this way. Just you and me, Sumire Potter… you and me…” Riddle raised the wand but before he could get a curse off Sumire moved to Ginny’s side.

She swore at how slow and sluggish her movements were. She still moved faster than the civilian eye could see but by her normal standards… Well, with Anko Mitarashi as your sensei… you learn to move fast.”

“Hey Riddle,” Sumire called. She took the diary that started all this from Ginny’s hands and placed it on the ground. “I wonder what happens when the source of the memory of a psychotic serial killer gets stabbed with a basilisk fang?”

Sumire plunged the fang she’d pulled out of her own arm down into the heart of the book.

There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, steaming over Sumire’s hands and flooding across the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and cursing and then –

He was gone. Ginny’s wand dropped to the floor with a clatter and there was silence. Silence that was broken by Sumire saying, “That wasn’t entirely unexpected.” She stared at the sizzling hole in the diary and prodded it a couple times.

A faint moan came from beside Sumire. Ginny sat up and her eyes traveled from the huge corpse of the basilisk, over Sumire, in her blood-soaked robes, then to the diary on the floor. She drew in a great breath.

“Sumire – oh, Sumire – I tried to tell you at breakfast, but I couldn’t say it in front of Percy – it was _me,_ Sumire – but I – I swear I didn’t mean to – R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over – and – _how_ did you kill that – that thing? W-where’s Riddle? The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of the diary- “

“It’s alright,” Sumire said. She was reminded, though, of why she didn’t like dealing with civilian girls. They tended to turn into a hysterical blubbering mess. “Riddle’s gone.”

Sumire gathered up the Sword of Gryffindor and the Sorting Hat before she escorted a wailing Ginny out of the Chamber. The two traveled back up the tunnel until the reached the wall of rock that had come down when Lockhart’s Memory Charm ricocheted off Sumire’s Shield Charm.

“Ron, Neville, Ginny’s safe,” Sumire called.

“ _Ginny_!” Ron thrust an arm through the hole he and Neville had created. He pulled his sister through first. “You’re alive! I don’t believe it! What happened? How- what- where did that bird come from?”

Fawkes had flown through the gap behind Ginny.

“He’s Dumbledore’s,” Sumire said as Neville helped her through.

“How come you’ve got a _sword_?” Ron asked, gaping at the glittering weapon in Sumire’s hand. Jealousy and desire shone in his eyes as they lingered on the large rubies.

Sumire mentally sighed. She had tried to impress on Ron that money wasn’t everything and if you put in the work you can earn your own. Sometimes it was better that way than getting riches handed down from your ancestors. One just had to look at Malfoy to see how it can have a negative impact.

“I’ll explain when we get out of here,” she said.

“Are you alright?” Neville asked, seeing the blood covering Sumire’s arm and dripping to the floor.

“I’m fine. You?”

Neville held up his wand. Well, the pieces anyway. “It broke during the rockfall. Gran won’t be happy. It belonged to my dad.”

“Better your wand than your neck. Your Gran will probably understand. Besides I remember Ollivander saying the wand chooses the wizard. Your spells will be better with your own wand.” Sumire looked around. “Where’s Lockhart?”

“Back by the pipe,” Neville said. “He’s in a bad way so I sent him there, so he was out of the way.”

The four walked back to the mouth of the pipe. Fawkes led the way and Ron had his arm around his little sister. Lockhart sat on the floor, humming placidly to himself.

“Hello,” Lockhart said. “Odd sort of place, this isn’t it? Do you live here?”

“No,” Ron said, incredulous and a little insulted.

Sumire bent down and studied the pipe. It was too long and steep if she could turn it into stairs, at least for Ginny and Lockhart in their conditions. She could climb using chakra to stick to the pipe, but the others could not.

Fawkes swooped past her and fluttered in front of her, his beady eyes bright in the dark. He was waving his long golden tail feathers.

“He looks like he wants you to grab hold…” Ron said, looking perplexed. “But you’re much too heavy for a bird to pull up there.”

“He’s a phoenix,” Neville said as Sumire avoided giving Ron a dirty look. “They can carry all of us with no problems.”

Sumire instructed them to join hands and a few minutes later, Lockhart had taken some wrangling, they were soaring up the pipe. They landed on the floor in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. Fawkes led the group through the corridors to Professor McGonagall’s office.

Sumire knocked on the door and pushed it open. They stood in the doorway in silence for a moment.

“ _Ginny_!” Mrs. Weasley screamed. She had been sitting crying in front of the fire, but once she saw her daughter she leapt to her feet. She and her husband pulled Ginny into a tight hug.

Sumire looked past the family to see a Dumbledore beaming and Professor McGonagall who was taking great, steadying gasps, but she did not seem surprised to see Sumire. Her observations were cut short by Mrs. Weasley sweeping her, Ron and Neville into a tight embrace.

“You saved her! You saved her! _How_ did you do it?”

“I think we’d all like to know that,” Professor McGonagall said.

Sumire knew the professor was compiling her own report to be sent to her old friend, the Third Hokage. Officially Sumire’s attendance at Hogwarts was a missions, the ranking of which would normally be B-ranked, but would be determined at the end of the school year after the fight with a Voldemort possessed Quirrell last year made it A-ranked. The troll on Halloween and her broom being jinxed contributed as well.

The young ninja set the Sorting Hat, sword and diary remains on the desk. She gave her report from the beginning with hearing the disembodied voice in the walls, realizing it must be a snake because she’d known for years that she could speak to them in their own language, how Hermione discovered it was a basilisk in the pipes, the trip into the forest with Ron and Neville to speak to Aragog and his tale of where the last victim had died, and how she figured out Moaning Myrtle was the one killed by the basilisk and that her bathroom must contain the entrance to the Chamber. She took a breath and went into an abridged version of the events in the Chamber leaving out her nonmagical attempts at taking down the basilisk. Professor McGonagall was the only one at Hogwarts who knew she was a shinobi.

Sumire worried about what would happen to Ginny. Yes, she should probably not have trusted a diary that wrote back but she was an eleven-year-old civilian girl against a young Voldemort who’d already killed someone. She’d been possessed and forced to carry out the attacks. But how could they prove the possession?

“What interests _me_ most,” Dumbledore said, “is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania.”

Relief swept over Sumire, but so did confusion. If he knew where Voldemort was hiding, why didn’t Dumbledore tell the Ministry and the law enforcement so a mission could be put together to take him out once and for all? Also, how did the diary slip under the radar and none of the teachers found anything wrong with Ginny? And why wasn’t Voldemort’s true name made public? The whole incident could have been avoided if Ginny and everyone else knew Tom Riddle became Voldemort.

“W-what’s that?” Mr. Weasley said, stunned. “ _You-Know-Who_? En-enchant _Ginny_? But Ginny’s not… Ginny hasn’t been… has she?”

Sumire explained about the diary. Dumbledore called it brilliant for some reason before explaining Riddle’s background and his transformation into Voldemort.

“But, Ginny,” Mrs. Weasley said. “What’s our Ginny got to do with – with – _him_?”

“His d-diary!” Ginny sobbed. “I’ve been writing in it and he’s been w-writing back all year- “

“ _Ginny_!” Mr. Weasley said, flabbergasted. “Haven’t I taught you _anything_? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself _if you can’t see where it keeps its brain_. Why didn’t you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was _clearly_ full of Dark Magic-”

“I didn’t know,” Ginny sobbed. “I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it-”

“Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right away,” Dumbledore interrupted. “This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort. Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that sheers me up. You will find Madame Pomfrey is still awake. She’s just giving out Mandrake juice. I daresay the basilisk’s victims will be waking up any moment. There’s been no lasting harm done, Ginny.”

Ginny’s parents led her out of the room as Sumire considered Dumbledore’s words. Ginny needed more than bed rest and hot chocolate. She’d need therapy of some kind and those petrified might do as well. But the Headmaster made no mention of it. Shinobi would always have to visit a therapist after a possible traumatizing mission, especially genin, and certain types of missions always warrant a visit.

“You know, Minerva,” Dumbledore said. “I think all this merits a good _feast_. Might I ask you to go and alert the kitchens?”

McGonagall nodded and left, leaving Dumbledore to deal with the three students.

“You realize, of course… that in the past few hours, you have broken perhaps a dozen school rules,” the headmaster said. “There is sufficient evidence to have you three expelled. Therefore, it is only fitting that you three receive Special Awards for Services to the school and – let me see – yes, I think one hundred and fifty points apiece for Gryffindor.”

Ron and Neville both turned as pink as Lockhart’s valentine flowers.

“Would you mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the infirmary, too?” Dumbledore said to Neville and Ron after they explained about his memory loss. “I’d like a few more words with Sumire.”

“Sit down, Sumire,” Dumbledore said after the door closed. “First of all, Sumire, I want to thank you. You must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you.”

Sumire smiled weakly at that. It had not been her intention at all. She was just saying things to push Riddle’s buttons. After the events of last year and his lack of action this year, she wasn’t a big fan of Dumbledore.

“And so, you met Tom Riddle,” Dumbledore said thoughtfully. “I imagine he was _most_ interested in you.”

“Creepily so,” Sumire said grimacing. “Riddle said I’m like him. Strange likenesses he said…”

“Did he now?” Dumbledore said, looking at Sumire with a look in his eyes that she couldn’t place. “And what do you think, Sumire?”

“I don’t think so. Aside from the fact we both like snakes, the Hat considered placing me in Slytherin and people thought I was the Heir for a while because I can speak Parseltongue.”

“You can speak Parseltongue, Sumire, because Lord Voldemort – who _is_ the last remaining descendant of Salazar Slytherin - can speak Parseltongue. Unless I’m much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I’m sure…”

“Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?” Sumire said, thoroughly creeped out.

“It certainly seems so.” Dumbledore misread Sumire’s expression. “The Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor. You have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his handpicked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue, resourcefulness, determination, a certain disregard for the rules. Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was?”

“I asked it to,” Sumire said. She vividly remembered talking with the Hat and convincing it not to place her in Slytherin where it was going to. It was understandable with her life as a kunoichi and tutelage under Anko Mitarashi, but as the ‘Girl-Who-Lived” she didn’t think it would be a good idea for her to join the ‘evil’ house. So, she asked the Hat where people expected her to go and asked to be put there to fly under the radar.

“Exactly,” Dumbledore said, beaming again. “Which makes you _very different_ from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Sumire, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. If you want proof, Sumire, that you belong in Gryffindor, I suggest you look more closely at _this_.”

Dumbledore reached across McGonagall’s desk and picked up the bloodstained sword. He handed it to Sumire who wiped some of the blood off Godric Gryffindor’s name.

“Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled _that_ out of the Hat, Sumire,” Dumbledore said.

She was skeptical. One didn’t have to be in the house, as the Headmaster was implying, only embody the characteristics. At least that was her opinion as a snake in the lion’s den. People weren’t black and white when it came to personality traits. They couldn’t be pigeonholed as one thing and one thing only.

Just as Sumire turned to leave, the door burst open and almost shut again with how hard it bounced off the wall. A furious Lucius Malfoy walked in with a house elf behind him. Sumire was shocked to recognize the house elf as Dobby. All year he’d been trying to get her to go home where she’d be safe and had stolen her mail and enchanted a Bludger in his attempts.

“So!” Lucius Malfoy said, looking unusually disheveled. “You’ve come back. The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return.”

Dumbledore explained how the governors contacted him having been threatened into suspending him. He and Mr. Malfoy discussed the diary and Voldemort’s involvement in the attacks.

Sumire was watching Dobby. The elf was pointing to the diary, then Mr. Malfoy and then punching himself. She nodded to show she understood and grimaced when Dobby twisted his ears in punishment. She thought back trying to figure out how Malfoy Sr. gave Ginny the diary.

“Don’t you know how Ginny got hold of that diary, Mr. Malfoy?” Sumire said, once she remembered.

“How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold of it?”

“Because you gave it to her. In Flourish and Blotts. You picked up her old Transfiguration book and slipped the diary inside it, didn’t you?”

“Prove it,” Mr. Malfoy hissed. His hands clenched and unclenched.

Unfortunately, Sumire couldn’t and Mr. Malfoy swept away, kicking Dobby all the way down the hall. She glared at the door before having an epiphany. She followed them and managed to trick Malfoy Sr. into giving Dobby her slimy sock. He was furious at the loss of his servant, but Dobby sent him bouncing down the stairs.

Sumire asked Dobby not to try to save her life again. The elf agreed and with a snap of his fingers cleaned all the blood and slime off Sumire and her robes. Her genuine thanks sent him into tears, and he hugged her before disappearing with a crack.

The feast lasted all night, but Sumire didn’t remember much of it. Her head and arm were throbbing, and she was so drained from the fight and almost dying. She did remember convincing Hermione the canceled exams were a good thing because she lost studying time while being petrified in the hospital wing. Hermione did relax after that. Neville was grateful because he didn’t have to rush to get a new wand.

On the Hogwarts Express, Sumire, Ron, Neville, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny sat in a compartment together. They played Exploding Snap and practiced the Disarming Charm. Sumire found it to be quite a useful charm. Wizards were useless without their wands and she could use it in battles once she could use magic outside school or figured out how to do it without her wand like she did with summoning objects. It took her a long time to get the summoning to work all the time, so by the time she could use it properly she’d probably be able to use her wand. Plus, she didn’t know if it would be possible to learn wandless disarming now that she had training. Summoning was so ingrained in her by now, but something new…

“Ginny, – what did you see Percy doing, that he didn’t want you to tell anyone?” Ron asked.

“Oh, that,” Ginny said, giggling. “Well – Percy’s got a _girlfriend_.”

“What?” Fred said.

“It’s that Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater,” Ginny said. “He’s been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them _kissing_ in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was – you know – attacked. You won’t tease him, will you?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Fred said.

“Definitely not,” George said.

Sumire sniggered. She recognized the look on their faces as one she’d seen plenty of times on Naruto’s face and occasionally Kiba, Choji and Shikamaru’s. it probably was an expression she’d worn before as well.

“Your dad will be proud, won’t he?” Hermione asked, as they got off the train. “When he hears about what you did this year?”

“Proud?” Sumire said. “Maybe eventually. He’ll be furious that I had to take care of things again and then he’ll be worried after hearing all the times I almost died.”

She waved goodbye and headed off to Portkey back to Konoha.


	2. Not Everything Is As It Seems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your responses to this story. I really appreciate it. Just a quick note, occasionally I will switch POV's from Sumire to Naruto if i feel it gives a better view of the events going on.

“Hey Sakura!” Naruto called over to his female teammate. She’d just been shot down by Sasuke before he left. “We could do some training to work on our teamwork.”

Sakura ignored him yet again and Naruto deflated. He wasn’t even trying to ask her out this time. He genuinely wanted to work on training. Not to mention their abysmal teamwork.

Team 7 had good teamwork when they were fighting Gato’s goons on Tazuna’s bridge with Zabuza and Haku. The two rogue mist shinobi switched sides once Kakashi mentioned Sumire-nee-chan and her mother to Zabuza. He made a mental note to bug Kakashi-sensei about how he knew that would work and get Sumire in on it. Though he was glad Haku wasn’t an enemy. Zabuza wasn’t too bad either, a little rough, but anyone who fights against the persecution of people like his nee-chan scored some points in his book.

The last few months since they’d returned to the village, however… Their teamwork was almost worse than when they became a team. At least then they listened to him, albeit begrudgingly and probably only to pass the bell test. Now Sasuke either ignored him or scoffed at his ideas for making their D-rank missions go quicker and Sakura went along with whatever the last Uchiha did.

A square rock crept up behind Naruto pulling him out of his thoughts on his mostly disastrous team. He stared at it for a moment, pretty sure it was Konohamaru, but just to be certain Naruto paced back and forth a couple times. He turned around forcing the ‘rock’ to screech to a halt.

“That’s the worst disguise of all time,” he scolded. “There’s no such thing as square rocks. It’s completely obvious!”

“You saw through my camouflage again!” Konohamaru said, his voice muffled. “You’re slick, boss. Just what I’d expect from my greatest rival.”

The box exploded in a burst of color to reveal a coughing Konohamaru and two other Academy students.

“I think we used a little too much gunpowder you guys,” Konohamaru told Moegi and Udon.

“Why are you all wearing goggles?” Naruto asked. The three hadn’t had them the last time he saw them.

Konohamaru laughed. “You used to wear goggles, remember? So, we’re copying you!”

Naruto felt a warmth at their admittance that out of all the ninja in Konoha they’d chosen him to look up to and imitate.

“Are you busy now?” Moegi asked.

“Well, I was going to do some training.”

“What?!” Konohamaru protested. “You said you’d play Ninja with us today!”

Naruto was about to say he knew that when Sakura walked up.

“Why would a ninja play Ninja?” Sakura said.

“They’re in the Academy and it helps with their training,” Naruto said.

Sakura’s unimpressed look amplified.

“Hey, boss, who’s that girl anyway?” Konohamaru asked. He studied Sakura before coming to an, admittedly wrong, conclusion. “I get it. You’re a smooth operator, boss. Come on, I know that she’s your… girlfriend.”

“She’s my teammate,” Naruto said.

Sakura wasn’t happy he didn’t deny Konohamaru’s assumption that she was girlfriend. So, she reacted the same way as always and hit Naruto into the fence. Konohamaru protested the reaction, and called her ugly, earning her ire and a hit himself.

Naruto lay on the ground wondering if Sumire and the others of their little group had a point with how Sakura acted towards him. He and Konohamaru stood up holding their aching heads.

“I don’t even, think she’s human,” Konohamaru said. “Did you see how wide her forehead is.”

Sakura heard and turned around. She charged at them and the four ran off, Konohamaru moving faster. He wasn’t looking where he was going and crashed into an unfamiliar shinobi in black.

“Do you need something?” he asked Konohamaru. He picked the young boy up by his scarf. “So, does this hurt, punk?”

“Put him down, Kankuro, or you’ll pay for it later,” Kankuro’s companion said. She looked around and saw a different newcomer than she expected.

Naruto followed her gaze and saw Sumire standing there in casual clothes. He grinned. “Hey, nee-chan. You just got back, huh?”

“Yeah, I can’t stay long,” Sumire said. “I’ll need to report to the Hokage.”

“Tell Grandpa, Konohamaru and I say hi.” Naruto’s word had the effect he wanted as Kankuro dropped Konohamaru like a hot sweet potato.

Sumire looked up at a hawk flying in circles. “I’ve got some time right now though.”

Naruto noticed Sumire absently rub her right arm just below the elbow. He eyed her suspiciously. That motion combined with the look in her eyes at the same time only occurred when she had an injury bothering her. Given the top-secret nature of her ‘mission’, he’d get answers out of her later. With the help of Kiba, Choji, and Shikamaru, of course. They were all there when the cat lady showed up to explain about the school and because they were trusted and would likely work closely with Sumire, they were allowed in on the secret. Kakashi-sensei, the Hokage, and Sumire’s psycho sensei were the only others who knew.

Sumire’s face lit up in recognition of the two foreigners.

“Oh, so it’s that time again,” she said. “Hello, Temari, Kankuro.”

“You know these jerks?” Konohamaru asked.

“We met when I was in Suna a couple years ago.”

Naruto suddenly realized why they were here. The Chunin Exams were about to start. ‘I wonder if Kakashi-sensei will recommend us or if he’ll make us wait to get more experience.’

Movement in a nearby tree drew everyone’s attention. Naruto’s eyebrow twitched at the sight of Sasuke lounging there, casually tossing a pebble up and down. He seemed uncaring, but Naruto could see lingering irritation. ‘Probably wanted to jump in and save the day all cool and stuff,’ Naruto grumbled to himself. He caught a flash of dislike in Sasuke’s eyes directed to Sumire. Over the years he’d gotten quite practiced at noticing it. Naruto didn’t understand why the Uchiha was glaring at Sumire whenever he was near her.

“You’re a long way from home and you’re way out of your league,” Sasuke said.

“Sasuke!” Sakura squealed.

Naruto heard Sumire sigh and looked over to see her roll her eyes and lean against the fence.

“Oh, great,” Kankuro said. “Another whelp to tick me off.”

“Get lost,” Sasuke said, crushing the pebble in his hand.

Sakura squealed about how cool it was, but Naruto just stared deadpan and Sumire scoffed.

‘There he goes trying to look cool,’ Naruto grumbled. ‘There was zero point to that.’

“Hey punk, get down here,” Kankuro said. “You’re the kind of pesky little snot I hate the most. All attitude and nothing to back it up.” He pulled the package off his back to Temari’s shock.

“What? Are you going to use the Crow for this?”

“Kankuro, back off,” a new voice said interrupting the standoff. “You’re an embarrassment to out village.”

Everyone was surprised to see the redhead standing upside down on a branch on the opposite side of the tree to Sasuke. Naruto hadn’t sensed his approach at all. He was comforted by the fact no one else had, not even this guy’s… teammates?

“Uh… Ah… Hey, Gaara,” Kankuro said. He chuckled weakly. “They challenged us. They started the whole thing, really.”

Naruto watched the newcomer, Gaara. There was an emptiness in his eyes the blond found eerily familiar. When Sumire snorted, a glimmer of recognition appeared in Gaara’s eyes.

“Sumire,” he said, with a small nod.

“Gaara. It’s good to see you again. I knew you must be around here somewhere.”

Kankuro kept babbling until Gaara glared at him with a sharp spike of killing intent. The black-clothed shinobi paled, and he stopped trying to shift the blame.

“Ah, right,” Kankuro said. “I was totally out of line. I’m – I’m sorry, Gaara.”

Naruto wished he could do that with Sakura and Sasuke.

“I’m sorry for any trouble he caused,” Gaara said to Sumire and Naruto. He dissolved into Sand and reappeared next to Temari and Kankuro. “Let’s go. We didn’t come here to play games.”

“Alright, sure, I get it,” Kankuro said.

“Hold on,” Sakura said. “Hey!”

“What?” Temari asked.

“I can tell from your headbands that you come from Sunagakure,” Sakura said, relishing the chance to show off her knowledge in front of her precious Sasuke. “Of course, the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind are allies. But no shinobi can enter another’s village without permission. So, state your purpose and it better be good.”

Naruto face palmed. Even he knew they were probably here for the Chunin Exams. Besides, he doubted they’d managed to sneak past the gate guards and all the defenses around the village, only to walk around the village with their headbands on full display. How Sakura didn’t know or figure it out, he didn’t know.

“Really?” Temari drawled. “Have you guys all been living under a rock or what? You don’t know what’s going on, do you?”

“They’re here for the Chunin Exams,” Naruto said. 

“You’re correct,” Temari said holding up her pass. “We are Suna genin, here for the Chunin Exams.”

The Suna trio turned to leave, but stopped when Sasuke called out, “Hey you. Identify yourself.” He jumped down in front of Naruto and Sakura.

“Hm? You mean me?” Temari asked.

“No,” Sasuke said, dismissively. “The guy with the gourd on his back.”

“Tch,” Sumire said. “Weren’t you listening? I said his name and so did Kankuro.”

Naruto grew incensed at Sasuke blatantly ignoring Sumire. What was that guy’s problem?

Gaara turned around and stared at Sasuke. “My name is Gaara of the Desert. I’m curious about you, though.”

Naruto started when Gaara’s gaze landed on him.

“I’m Sasuke Uchiha,” Sasuke said, pride and arrogance coating his words.

“Actually, I couldn’t care less about you.”

“My name is Naruto Uzumaki.” The blond grinned ignoring the icy glares sent his way by his teammates. Hey, it wasn’t his fault Gaara wanted to know his name and not Sasuke’s. especially with how the Uchiha was acting.

Gaara nodded and he and his teammates left. Sasuke growled and left as well, Sakura following.

Naruto grabbed Sumire’s arm. “Jiji can wait for his report a little while longer, nee-chan.”

Sumire nodded. “I’m pretty sure he’s in a meeting with the jonin about the Chunin Exams.”

“So, we can talk now. Konohamaru, I’ll come find you guys in a little while, ok?” Naruto dragged Sumire across the village to his apartment.

Naruto found Kiba at one of the training fields with Shino. “Hey guys. You busy, Kiba?”

“Nah, Kurenai-sensei left a little while ago. Some meeting with the Hokage. We did some training together before Hinata had to head home. She just left.”

“Sumire said all the jonin were called to discuss the Chunin Exams that are about to start.”

“The Chunin Exams?” Kiba said, sitting up. “I wonder if Kurenai-sensei will sign us up.”

“Kiba, we’ve only been genin for six months,” Shino said, ever pragmatic. “It is doubtful we would be considered ready.”

“Don’t be such a spoilsport,” Kiba snapped. He looked down as Akamaru barked. “Right, Akamaru. When did you see Sumire?”

“Just now. She was heading to give her mission report when she bumped into us. Anyway, since Sumire couldn’t give her report right away and she was rubbing her arm like it was bothering her, I called a meeting.”

Kiba’s eyes narrowed. “Come on, Akamaru. Let’s go find out who hurt Sumi and if she left anything for us.”

Naruto grinned and poofed away.

Back in his apartment, Naruto absorbed the memories of his two shadow clones. “The others are on their way,” the jinchuriki told his adopted nee-chan.

“Is this really necessary?” Sumire asked. “I do have places to be.”

“Not at any specific time. Besides if you are late you can just blame it on your tou-san’s bad habits.” A familiar rhythmic knock came from the front door. “It’s open!”

She snickered. “I probably wouldn’t even have to say anything. They’d just assume.”

“Assume what?” Choji asked as he and Shikamaru walked in.

“That I’m starting to take after Tou-san too much,” Sumire walked over to give her friends a hug. “Hey Shika, Chouji.”

She greeted Kiba and Akamaru a minute later, Sumire asked, “So, how have you guys been? Any interesting missions or entertaining encounters with the devil beast known as Tora?”

“Yes, to the first, no to the second,” Naruto said. “But that’s a story for later. No stalling nee-chan.”

“What happened on your mission to get you hurt?” Kiba asked.

“I thought your school was supposed to be one of the safest places?” Chouji said.

“I’m starting to doubt that especially with the troll and the teacher possessed by a Dark wizard last year,” Shikamaru said. “Speaking of which, you’d been injured at the end of that year too.”

Sumire grimaced in agreement. She pulled up her right sleeve to reveal a pink circle about one inch in diameter just below her elbow.

“Who, how and when?” Naruto asked, uncharacteristically serious.

“End of May and Voldemort, sort of. He had control of a massive, venomous snake with impenetrable skin. _Fireball_ _Jutsu_ didn’t do a thing and paper bomb wrapped kunai only scratched the inside of its mouth.”

“How deadly was this snake?” Choji asked.

“Don’t sugarcoat it,” Kiba warned, seeing Sumire bite her lip in hesitation.

“Looking the _basilisk_ directly in the eyes will kill you, seeing a reflection will petrify you and its venom can kill you in less than a minute and only has one very rare cure,” Sumire admitted after a minute.

The boys and Akamaru stared at her in horrified shock.

Naruto gave a weak chuckle. “At least your sensei put you through training without some or all of your senses.”

Sumire shuddered. “Thanks for the reminder. I wasn’t blind for too long since _Fawkes_ , a phoenix, pecked out the snake’s eyes.”

“Sounds troublesome. How’d you kill it?”

“Sword up into its brain. Unfortunately, a fang got lodged in my arm during its death throes.”

Naruto wondered if he was as pale as the others. Kiba’s fang marks were standing out like blood on paper. Akamaru whined and padded over to Sumire.

She scratched the puppy behind his ears. “I’m alright. Phoenix tears have healing abilities. _Fawkes_ cried on the wound and his tears purged the venom, sealed the skin, and fixed the bone and muscle. It’s just a little sore occasionally as the healing finishes.”

“Hold up,” Kiba croaked out. “That scar is from _a fang_? Just how big was this thing?”

“Over sixty feet long.”

Naruto choked at the size of the snake. It sounded like it would fit right in with the creatures of the Forest of Death. At least going by Sumire’s horror stories of that training ground.

“Changing the subject,” Naruto said. They all need to think of something else. “The Chunin Exams are about to start and since there’s a slim chance we might participate, could you tell us about your exams we have an idea what to expect?”

Sumire smiled. “It depends on how ready your sensei’s think you are, or if they want to show you how far you have to go.”

Naruto grimaced. He could see Kakashi-sensei doing the latter to knock Sasuke’s ego down a few pegs and get Sakura serious about training.

“There are three parts to the exam,” Sumire explained. “They can vary depending on who is hosting the Exams but tend to keep to a general format. The first exam is usually a written exam on the surface. There’s always a catch though. In my Exams, we were told one of our three-man squad would be picked to answer the final question. I was the one chosen and when I went into the side room, the proctor told me that not everyone on a team would be able to become chunin. I had to pick one of my teammates to not get promoted this time. I didn’t choose Izumo or Kotetsu, not wanting to sacrifice their chances to increase my own, especially after all the struggles they had trying to get through past Chunin Exams. It was the right decision as we passed.

“The second is survival, we were tossed into Suna’s Demon Desert where we had to fight the other teams in a type of scavenger hunt. And the third is in a tournament style where you can show off your abilities to the crowds that come watch and those who evaluate you to see if you get promoted. Just remember anything is a test.”

Shikamaru groaned, mumbling about it being troublesome.

Sumire checked the time. “I need to go report to the Hokage, so I’ll see you guys later.” She waved and headed out.

The next day Naruto met his team on their usual bridge. They stood waiting for Kakashi-sensei to show up. Naruto wondered what his sensei’s excuse this time would be and how long it was going to before Sakura – “Argh!” – exploded.

“Why? Why? Why? It’s always the same!” Sakura complained. “He sets the time and then we have to wait hours for him! What about my feelings. I rushed here so fast I didn’t even have time to blow dry my hair!”

Naruto just let her rant. If he wasn’t worried about Kakashi-sensei being less than three hours late, he would have waited to show up. But, knowing his luck, the day he did that would be the day Kakashi was earlier. He didn’t understand why Sakura would spend so much time on her hair. Sure, it looked nice, but it wouldn’t last in training.

“Hey, good morning, everyone,” Kakashi said from above them. “Sorry I’m late. Afraid I got lost on the path of life.”

“You liar!” Sakura yelled.

Naruto just yawned. It wasn’t really an interesting excuse this time.

Kakashi jumped down onto the path. “I know this is a bit sudden, but I recommended you for the Chunin Exams. All three of you. These are the application forms. This is all voluntary. It’s up to each of you. If you don’t feel ready you can wait ‘til next year.

“Alright!” Naruto cheered. “Kakashi-sensei you rock!” He jumped up and gave Kakashi-sensei a hug. Whether he recommended them to test them or because he believed in them, Naruto didn’t care. He could show everyone what he was capable of.

“Hey, don’t slobber on my vest,” Kakashi protested.

Naruto let go and took his application form.

“Whoever wants to take the Exams, sign the supplication and come to Room 301 at the Academy. It’s at 3:00 pm, five days from now. That’s it.”

The young jinchuriki’s euphoria soon dimmed as he realized he should start preparing. He needed to brush up on his ninja skills, make sure he had enough weapons, look over what the other villages were known for, and spend time with Konohamaru. He hadn’t seen much of his surrogate cousin lately and there was no telling how busy he’d be during the Exams.

The afternoon of the start of Chunin Exams, Naruto and Sasuke found themselves waiting on Sakura. When she finally arrived, she looked nervous and gave Sasuke an odd look.

Naruto put it down to her preliminary test. They were rookies and Sumire warned him, Kiba, Choji, and Shikamaru that everything was a test. A preliminary exam was the only explanation for a random foreign ninja ‘kidnapping’ Moegi and making her ransom the First Hokage’s Scroll of Sealing. No ninja would expect a random genin to know where to find, and be able to steal, a top-secret document. And they certainly wouldn’t know Naruto could.

Inside, Naruto tried to get his teammates to keep walking. He knew they were only on the second floor because they passed the permanent purple mark on the wall from a prank, he, and the rest of the Torikkusutā pulled. Unless there was some serious remodeling in the six months since he’d been there, there was no Room 301 there and he told his teammates that, well most of it. Sasuke, however walked right up to the ninja in front of ‘Room 301,’ ignoring Naruto’s glare.

“We’re just thinning out the herd,” the ninja on the left said.

“Real nice speech,” Sasuke drawled. “Now both of you step aside and let me past. And while you’re at it, release the genjutsu. We can see through your illusion anyway. We’re going to the third floor.”

“So, you noticed the genjutsu, huh?” the left ninja said.

“Go ahead, tell them, Sakura. I’m sure you saw it before anyone else did.”

‘Okay, so at least some good came out of this clusterbomb,’ Naruto thought. ‘Sakura needed the confidence boost. But now there’s a lot more competition. Damn your need to show off, Sasuke.’

After the confrontation with Bushy Brow and his squad and more of Sasuke’s arrogant posturing, Naruto turned to his teammate. “Well done Sasuke, you just increased the competition.”

The last Uchiha scoffed. “The more the better.”

Naruto rolled his eyes and led his teammates to the real Room 301 after Sasuke and Lee had a brief scuffle. Outside the room they saw Kakashi-sensei.

“Glad you came, Sakura,” he said. “For your sake and the others. Now you can formally register for the Chunin Exam.”

“Why? What do you mean?” Sakura asked.

“The Exams are only taken by teams of three,” Naruto said.

“Exactly, Naruto. Even though it is an individual decision, it affects all of you. I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want the other guys pressuring you. At the same time, I didn’t want you to feel obliged to participate because of any feelings you have for Sasuke, or Naruto. I wanted you to come to a decision of your own free will.” Kakashi-sensei looked at the three of them. “Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke. I’m proud of you. I couldn’t ask for a better team. Good luck.” He stepped aside.

“We won’t let you down, sensei, dattebayo.”

The three rookies walked into a room full of other genin from all over. Naruto was glad to see his friends from the other teams. he could have done without Ino and Sakura fighting over Sasuke… again… and drawing the attention of a fellow Konoha genin.

Kabuto made Naruto uneasy. A look at Shikamaru, Kiba ad Chouji showed they were unnerved by his ninja info cards too. Whether he got his info from finding their files or through chakra, Naruto didn’t like a stranger knowing that much information about him. And how did he get the mission statistics for that Gaara guy anyway?

Naruto was glad when Ibiki Morino and the proctors showed up, otherwise who knows what those freaky Sound ninja would do. He really wasn’t looking forward to this written exam. He wasn’t fond of tests and Sumire had told him some stories of Ibiki. The Head of Torture and Interrogation as their proctor? This wasn’t going to be easy.

He was still uneasy as he took his seat. As Ibiki went over the rules, Naruto listened carefully trying to figure out the hidden test. As Kakashi-sensei would say, “Look beneath the underneath.” Clearly the tenth question was the make or break or moment, so the other questions probably didn’t really matter. Maybe he could get away without answering any, but if Sumire and the others found out he didn’t do his best… Naruto shuddered.

He didn’t think the score really mattered, except in the case of cheaters. Grading would take too long. He decided to look over the questions and try to answer at least one, just in case.

The first question he was able to give a reasonable stab at. It was codebreaking and he and his friends spent ages coming up with their own codes. Kakashi had helped him learn codebreaking too since the techniques for they were similar and helpful to know for Fuinjutsu. He quite enjoyed breaking down and creating seals and he always felt closer to his parents then.

Naruto had fun breaking the problem down and rearranging it to find the right translation, but he couldn’t be bothered with the others. They were all a lot harder and even though he was pretty sure they were expected to cheat, he didn’t really want to… Sure he loved pulling one over on people, see Exhibit A: The Torikkusutā, and Exhibit B: Prank the Anbu and T&I with Sumire, but his ways of gathering intel wouldn’t work in a crowed area without a distraction. Which if he did, say, drop a smoke bomb for cover, it would give everyone else cover and increase the number of people not caught.

He had a sudden idea. In a corner of his test, Naruto wrote down a plan for gathering intelligence when on a mission, using henges and shadow clones. Also, he wrote down why he didn’t do anything there.

“Alright, listen up,” Ibiki said. “Here’s the tenth and final question. Naruto sat up ready to hear the exact wording of the question. He didn’t want to mishear and end up failing. The rules seemed to be key. They could choose to answer the question, but if they didn’t, they and their teammates would fail too. But if you answered wrong, you’d fail and could never take the Chunin Exams again.

Naruto thought through the rules remembering Sumire’s story of her Chunin Exams. If he chose not to answer his whole team would fail. He wouldn’t do that to Sakura and Sasuke. If he got the question wrong, only he would remain a genin.

He was aware of a lot of people quitting in the background as he puzzled through the situation and came to his decision. The number of people quitting seemed to keep going. Eventually it went quiet.

“Well then, I admire your determination if nothing else,” Ibiki said after it was silent for a couple minutes. “For those of you remaining there’s only one thing left for me to do. And that’s for me to tell you… That you’ve all passed the first exam.”

“Hold on!” Sakura cried. “What just happened? What do you mean we passed? Where’s the tenth question?”

Ibiki chuckled. “There never was one. Not a written one at least. Actually, your decision to stay was the answer to the tenth question.

“Wait a second,” a kunoichi from behind Naruto said. “So, the other nine questions you gave us were just a waste of time?”

“No, no not at all. Quite the opposite. The first nine questions were to test your ability to surreptitiously gather strategic intelligence under the most adverse circumstances.”

Ibiki went on to explain the point of questions and how they had to cheat, but cheat well. He took off his bandana to reveal all his scars on his head as he explained the importance of accurate information. He gave the reasons behind the final question, what the entire point of it was and how chunin must always make that difficult of decisions.

“You have passed through the first gate,” Ibiki concluded. “I hereby declare this part of the Chunin Selection Exam completed. There’s nothing left but to wish you all good luck.”

A ball broke through the window. Kunai lodged themselves in the ceiling. Two people spun out of the banner, one clearly not expecting it as he or she tumbled to the side.

Naruto gulped as he recognized the second figure as Anko Mitarashi, Sumire’s pyscho-sensei.

“Head’s up boys and girls, this is no time to be celebrating,” Anko said. “I’ll be your next proctor, Anko Mitarashi.”

“Damn it, Anko. A little warning next time? And how about you quit spontaneously dragging me places. This is the second time in the space of a week.”

Naruto stared as Sumire stood up brushing herself off. She was covered in mud and her clothes were all torn-up like she’d just been through training from hell. With a start he realized they were the same clothes from when she left to speak to the Hokage a week ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you for all your responses. I just have one thing I'd like to ask is when you leave a review, please leave an actual review and don't just use it to recommend something to me so that I write in that fandom. I don't mind recommendations, even though I still have a dozen books and multiple TV shows that I haven't read/watched yet. However, I already have multiple stories that I haven't worked on in ages, some of which I'll probably edit before continuing, plus a couple stories started, but not posted and a few half-formed ideas that haven't really gotten off the planning stages. 
> 
> If you want to bring up something that doesn't seem to be working for you or appears to be a little plot-holey, constructive criticism is always appreciated and I will read and try to answer all reviews/questions. Even if it is to say 'Spoilers.' If there are things you're wondering if you'll see, I'll be able to tell you yes, no, maybe or again, 'Spoilers' and if there are things you'd like to see... I'll listen, but this story is written through 3rd year Halloween, hard outlined through the beginning of 4th year, and rough outlined through the beginning of 7th year, so... Please don't expect your ideas to end up in the story. I've done that before and trying to incorporate multiple different ideas that reviewers gave me did not go well. For me or I feel, that story. I feel like in trying to please everyone the story didn't have a clear path and seemed to be shifting even between chapters. So, anyways, I appreciate the ideas and I'll read them, but there are story beats that cannot be changed and I can't put myself through the anxiety of trying to please everyone again.
> 
> I didn't intend for this to be this long, but I just wanted to say that I appreciate every kudo, subscription and comment. I do read every review and try to respond to them all, even if it's just a quick "Thank you" but I will be monitoring all guest reviews now, so if it doesn't have anything to do with this story, also don't use reviews for this story to get me to update other ones it won't work and doesn't tell me how you feel about this one, it will probably be removed.


	3. The Wrench in the Second Exam

Sumire leveled a glare at her sensei. She was not in the mood for figuring out whatever game Anko was playing this time. She had just finished giving her report on the now S-ranked mission she just got back from when the psycho she called sensei knocked her out and tossed her in the Forest of Death. Six days in that death trap collecting items from containers spread out all over the training ground before sparring with Anko at the tower. And that wasn’t even the worst part of the whole thing…

“This is my co-proctor, Sumire Hatake.”

Sumire started. ‘Wait, what?’

Anko continued before could respond. “Ready for the second test? Good, now let’s go, follow me!”

The entire room stared in stunned silence. Ibiki stepped around the banner. “You’re early, again,” he said.

“Since when was I co-proctor?” Sumire hissed, not literally. “Or are you just wanting a reason to have me be your gopher.”

“Last week and not really,” Anko said. She looked at the room and turned to Ibiki. “How many are there? Ibiki! You let all these guys pass? Your test was too easy. You must be getting soft.”

“Or it could be a stronger crop of candidates this year,” Ibiki said.

“Hm. They sure don’t look it. Trust me, before Sumire and I are done with them… More than half will be eliminated.”

Sumire tuned out Sakura in favor of deciphering Ibiki’s tapped message on her shoulder.

‘Training Grounds 44?’ A smirk spread across her face. “You know, this might actually be fun.” A spike of dread and uneasiness came from four seats.

“Oh, it will be,” Anko said, waring a matching smirk. “Alright, you maggots have had it easy so far, but things are gonna be different starting first thing in the morning. Sumire will let your squad leaders know where to find us. Dismissed.”

“What was that about me not being your gopher?” Sumire asked as everyone filed out.

“Well, maybe a little.”

“I am not fetching you dango, especially after the hell you just put me through.”

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“Because you didn’t go through it. All of my weapons better be at my house, otherwise…”

Two arms wrapped around her shoulders. Sumire looked to the sides where she saw Izumo and Kotetsu. If they hadn’t made chunin in the exams they were at together two years ago, the two of them would probably had ended up getting field promotions.

“So, how’d your mission go?” Izumo asked.

“How come you get the cool, long missions?” Kotetsu asked.

“Because the two of you are quite happy where you are and neither of you meet the requirements for these missions.”

“There aren’t many who do,” Anko said. “You should get going. Thanks to Ibiki you’ve got 26 teams to visit before nightfall.” She smirked.

Sumire made a rude gesture at her sensei and said goodbye to Izumo and Kotetsu before leaving for home. There was no way she was going to meet with the senseis covered in sweat and muck from the Forest of Death and without having had a shower in almost a week.

The next day at one o’clock, Sumire stood with her sensei outside Training Grounds 44. She couldn’t help but grin at the apprehensive genin who were getting their first looks at the Forest of Death. She probably had the same look on her face when Anko first introduced her to the forest after… two years after she became a genin. With so much of her training taking place here since then she’d gotten used to it.

“This whole place just completely creeps me out,” Sakura said. Her hands were clasped in front of her as an ineffectual shield against the forest.

Anko chuckled. “It should. It’s called the Forest of Death, and soon enough you’re gonna find out why.”

Naruto huffed. “Try all you want, psycho-sensei, you’re not going to scare me off. I’ve heard stories about you and this place.”

“So, looks like we’ve got ourselves a tough guy,” Anko said, smiling. She whipped out a kunai and threw it at Naruto. It sliced his cheek and the hair of a Kusa shinobi behind him. She shunshined behind Naruto. “You tough enough to handle this? You’re not afraid, are you?” She wiped a little blood off Naruto’s face. “Tough guys like you usually leave their blood all over this forest.”

Anko had a quick conversation with the Kusa shinobi when she returned Anko’s kunai with her tongue and then rejoined Sumire at the fence line. “Seems like everyone here is quick-tempered. There must be something in the air. This is gonna be fun.”

Sumire just sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Now before we begin this test, I have something to hand out to you all,” Anko said. “It’s just a standard consent form before the test, all of you are going to read over this form and then sign it.”

“What for?” Naruto asked.

“Some of you may not come back from this test and I have to get your consent to that risk. Otherwise it would be my responsibility.” Anko laughed.

Sumire could see some of the genin growing more anxious at Anko’s words and how she didn’t seem to care that some of them might die.

“Now I’ll explain what you’ll be doing on this test,” Anko said as she handed Naruto the forms to pass around. “This test will tax every one of your survival skills. First, I’ll give you all a description of the terrain on the training ground. The 44th Battle Training Zone has forty-four locked entrance gates. There are rivers and a forest inside. In the center is a locked tower, located ten kilometers from each gate.

“The test consists of an anything goes battle to get your hands on those scrolls.” Anko gestured to Sumire who held up a Heaven and an Earth scroll.

“Both of them?” Sasuke asked.

“Yes. You’ll be fighting to get both a Heaven scroll and an Earth scroll. Since there are twenty-six teams taking part in this test, half of them will be going after the Heaven scroll and the other half will be fighting to get the Earth scroll. We’ll hand over one kind of scroll to each team.”

“So, how do we pass the test?” Sasuke asked.

“Your entire squad most bring both a Heaven and an Earth scroll to the tower,” Anko said.

“That means at best half the teams will fail,” Sakura said. “More if not every team is able to get both scrolls.”

“No one ever said this was going to be easy,” Sumire said.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Anko said. “The test has a time limit. You must finish it within five days.”

“Five days out there?” Ino cried.

“Oh man,” Choji groaned, undoubtedly recalling Sumire’s horror stories about training there with all the things that could kill you.

“That means with these circumstances, there’s no way that half the teams will pass,” Neji, one of Guy’s students, said.

“This test also measures endurance behind enemy lines,” Anko said, after Sasuke and Lee commented on the difficulty. “This is designed to be a grueling test and I’m sure some of you won’t be up to the challenge.”

“This is gonna be a drag,” Shikamaru grumbled.

“There are also some ways you can get disqualified,” Anko continued. “The first is simple, if all three members of a team can’t make it to the tower with both scrolls after five days. Number two, if a team loses a member or a member becomes incapacitated and can’t continue. But most important none of you, absolutely none of you, absolutely none of you, may look at the contents of the scroll before you reach the tower.”

“What if it just flops open and you read it?” Naruto asked.

Identical smirks crossed both Sumire and Anko’s faces. “You don’t want to know,” Anko said. “There are times when a ninja may be asked to carry secret documents. The scroll rule is to test your integrity.

“Ok, we’re done. Each team sign your consent forms and exchange them at the hut for your scrolls. After that, each team pick a gate and you’ll be led inside.

“Oh, and I have one more thing. Just don’t die!”

The teams spread out to sign and talk strategy. Sumire leaned against the fence to keep an eye on things.

“Alright everyone, we’re gonna start handing out scrolls,” a chunin assistant called.

‘You better at least survive this,’ Sumire thought. ‘I’m rooting for the five of you.’

At two thirty Anko announced, “Alright you maggots, the second part of the test has begun!” All around the grounds the gates opened.

“Nothing to do but wait,” Sumire said after the gates closed behind the genin.

“For us at least.” Anko grinned.

Not even ten minutes later screams erupted from the trees.

“So, do you think they found another team, got caught be some creature, or ended up in one of the traps you put in there for me?”

“Not sure, but it sounds like the fun has begun.” Anko reached behind the counter. “I brought dango and red bean soup. We haven’t been able to celebrate the completion of your first S-ranked mission yet.”

“I wonder why,” Sumire muttered. The two of them sat on the roof of the hut to enjoy their meal. Whenever Anko finished a stick of dango, she threw the skewer at the tree beside them.

“Nothing makes dango go doesn’t like sweet red bean soup,” Anko said. “As soon as we finish the little snack, we should see how the kiddies are doing. The fastest should be finishing up soon.” She threw the last skewer finishing up soon.” She threw the last skewer finishing the Leaf symbol.

“Pardon ma’am,” a chunin said appearing in front of them. “There’s a problem.”

“What sort of problem?” Anko asked.

“Corpses. Three of them. And there’s something strange about them.”

“Besides being dead?” Anko asked.

They followed the chunin to the bodies. Sumire recoiled at the faceless bodies. ‘What the hell? I’ve never seen anything like this.’

“I went through their belongings and found their identifications,” Kotetsu said. “Ninjas from Kusa. All three were registered for the Chunin Exams. As you can see, they weren’t just killed.”

“Their faces… they’re gone,” Sumire said.

“Yeah,” Kotetsu said. “There’s nothing where their faces used to be. Like they melted or something.”

Sumire looked over at Anko who gripped the base of her neck where… ‘Don’t tell me… This is his jutsu?’

“I need photos of what these three used to look like,” Anko snapped. “Where are their ids?”

The chunin who’d alerted them handed over their papers. The Kusa shinobi who had returned Anko’s kunai earlier stared up from the top page.

“We’ve got big trouble,” Anko said. “Ok, get moving. Sumire, tell Lord Hokage exactly what happened here. The rest of you tell ANBU Black Ops they need to dispatch a couple squads to the Forest of Death. Meanwhile, I’m going in after these guys. Now go!”

“Right!”

Sumire knew better than to argue with Anko. Besides, she knew she was no match for Orochimaru. She shunshined to the Hokage tower and sprinted up to his office. “I need to see the Hokage, now!”

“He’s in a meeting with the councilors,” his secretary said.

“Can you get him out… please?”

“Lord Hokage will be back soon.”

Sumire growled and paced around the outside the office. Even though not much time passed, to Sumire it was too long until the Hokage walked up smoking his pipe.

“Ah, Sumire, how are the Exams going?”

“Lord Hokage can I speak to you privately?”

“Of course.” The Hokage led the way into his office. “What’s wrong?”

Sumire explained about the three corpses and Anko’s reaction. As soon as she mentioned her suspicions about the attacker being Orochimaru, the air grew heavier.

“We need to go to the tower,” the Hokage said. “Do you mind-?”

Sumire shook her head. The Hokage grabbed her shoulder and transported both of them to the Forest of Death. They arrived in one of the rooms away from where the teams would be. Anko and a couple ANBU members were already there. Her sensei was clearly in pain from her curse mark. The Hokage immediately went over to calm it.

Anko explained how she’d confronted Orochimaru and what he’d told her. Apparently, he put a curse mark on Sasuke and then threatened to attack the village if the exams were cancelled.

Sumire bit her lip. ‘Damn it. This is a no-win situation. The curse mark means Sasuke really shouldn’t continue if his squad passed, but if we pull him out who knows what Orochimaru will do. Oh, I am so out of my depth.’

The Hokage stepped back. “How is it? Does the curse mark still hurt?”

“No not really. Thanks to you its much better,” Anko said.

They discussed what to do about the Exams now with the appearance of Orochimaru. Ultimately, Lord Hokage decided to continue as planned while keeping an eye out for the rogue Sannin.

It turned out to be a good decision. The crop of candidates was one of the stronger ones in recent years. For the first time in five years a preliminary round would have to be held. Seven teams had passed in total, including the three rookie teams.

“First of all, congratulations on finishing the Second Exam,” Anko said through her mike. All the proctors, senseis and the Hokage stood in front of the competing genin.

“I see your team didn’t do too bad, Kakashi,” Guy said behind her. “They must have got real lucky. Of course, with my team still around your team is doomed to failure. After all, what matters on the next test is ability we’ve got you far outclassed. well, I guess that part of growing up is learning to deal with heartbreak, huh Kakashi?”

“Huh, did you say something?”

Sumire snickered at her Tousan’s blasé response and Guy-sensei burning up with annoyance. She was glad to see her friends had made it without getting too injured. When she looked at Kiba, she started slightly. Akamaru was curled up in his jacket, whimpering.

‘What happened to you?’ she wondered.

“Alright, now pay attention,” Anko said. “Lord Hokage is going to explain the third exam to you. You better listen carefully, maggots! Lord Hokage, they’re all yours.”

He stepped forward. “First, before I tell you what the third exam entails, I want to explain something about the test itself.” He told the gathered genin about the history of Chunin Exams and their true purpose.

“Now, I’m going to tell you exactly what you’ll all be doing on the third exam.”

Hayate shunshined over and knelt in front of their leader. “Lord Hokage, before you do, please allow me, Hayate Gekko, appointed as proctor for the third exam, to speak first.”

“So be it.”

“It’s nice to meet you all.” Hayate coughed. “There’s something… I would like all of you… to do… before we can more on to the real one.”

“Preliminary?!” Shikamaru cried, panicked. “Just what do you mean by that?”

“I’m sorry, sensei, excuse me,” Sakura said. “But I really don’t see the point. What’s this preliminary about? Why can’t we just move on to the third exam?”

“Uh, well you see, the first and second exams might have been too easy. The fact is, we never expected so many of you to still be here. According to the rules of the Chunin Exams a preliminary round can be held at any stage, to reduce the number of candidates remaining.”

“But is that fair?” Sakura asked.

‘We’re shinobi, Sakura. We don’t do fair.’

“It’s just at this stage we have to speed things up a bit. As Lord Hokage said, a lot of important guests will be watching. We can’t afford to waste their time. They’ve come to see only the best. So, if there are nay of you who feel you’re not in top physical condition, now’s your chance to…” He broke off coughing. “Sorry about that. As I was saying, if any of you don’t feel up to think, now’s the time for you to bow out. The preliminaries will be starting immediately.”

None of the genin were particularly happy about that news and Sumire couldn’t blame them. They had just spent five hellish days in a place where everything there including the other teams were out to kill them. She certainly wouldn’t want to then have to fight after that.

“Oh yeah,” Hayate said. “The winners will be determined by one on one combat, sudden death. So, like I said, if there’s anyone who doesn’t feel up to this, now’s your time to raise your hand.”

“It’s just as I feared,” the Hokage said, watching squad 7 whisper amongst themselves.

“what do we do with him?” Ibiki asked.

“We take him out of the exam, hand him over to Black Ops and let them keep him locked up,” Anko said. “We have to keep that seal under control or-”

“Oh, you just think he’s just going to go quietly along with all this?” Kakashi asked.

“I don’t care who he is,” Anko said. “If he stays, he’s a danger to everyone. As he gets stronger so does the curse mark. That thing’s feeding off his chakra. It’s a forbidden jutsu that devours the one who bears it. It’s incredible the kid’s still standing. By now he should be dead. Lord Hokage-”

‘Huh?’ Sumire saw a familiar genin raise his hand. ‘I recognize him from somewhere.’

“Ok, you got me, I’m out,” he said.

“Let’s see,” Hayate said. “Kabuto Yakushi of Konoha, right? Oh, you can go on and step back.”

“Seems to me I’ve seen that one before,” Lord Hokage said. “if memory serves, this isn’t the first time he’s dropped out before a battle. What kind of game is he playing?”

“He was at my exams two years ago,” Sumire said, remembering.

“Anko,” Ibiki said, snapping Anko back to the present. She was the one holding the files on the genin.

“Oh right,” Anko flipped through the pages. “Kabuto Yakushi. Says here he’s failed six times in a row.”

“What do you have on his background.?” The Hokage asked.

“His time at the Academy was not what you’d call impressive. Average grades, took him a full three tries before he passed the graduation exam. As far as the missions he’s carried out since then, there’s been two C-ranks and fourteen D-ranks. It’s not exactly a battle record to write home about. However… there’s something before his time in the Academy. Do you remember the child, the one who was found after the Battle of Kikyo Pass? The only survivor?”

“I remember the story,” the Hokage said. “It was said a small boy was found among the enemy dead on the battlefield. He was barely alive and brought back by a jonin from the medical unit. You’re saying this is that boy?”

“No then,” Hayate said. “Does anybody else want to quit?”

The Hokage blew out a puff of smoke as Sasuke argued with his teammates again. “I’m still concerned about what Orochimaru said. Allow the boy to continue with the exam for now and we’ll see what happens.”

Anko started to protest, but the Hokage cut her off. “However, at the first sign of the curse mark growing or his power getting out of control you will step in and stop it.”

Ibiki and eventually Anko agreed.

“Alright, then,” Hayate said. “We’ll now begin the preliminary round. This round will consist of one on one, individual combat at full battle intensity. This is not an exercise. There are twenty of you remaining, so that means we will need ten matches. The surviving candidates will advance to the third exam. As for the rules, there are none. You will fight until one dies or concedes defeat or is rendered physically incapable of continuing. Naturally, those who are losing are urged to concede defeat promptly to avoid a fatal outcome. Furthermore, as proctor I’m given a certain amount of leeway in judging the matches. I might occasionally intervene if a match seems hopeless to save as many lives as possible. Now its time to reveal what fate has been chosen for you.”

“Open the panel,” Anko said into the mike.

On the back wall an electronic board was revealed. “The names of each pair of opponents are chosen completely at random. Before each match, these names will appear on the display behind me. As there’s nothing more to say, let’s begin. In a moment, the names of the first two opponents will appear.”

Names flashed by, ending on Yoroi Akada and Sasuke Uchiha. Hayate directed all but those two to stand on the walkway around the room.


End file.
